Abstract

Relevance: The volume, range and pace of change within Healthcare across the current millennium has been largely driven by government policies that increasingly seek to embed the involvement of patients, service-users, carers and the public (People with Experience (PWE), in decisions to inform the provision of individualised care. The level of complexity within professionals' practice makes close collaboration with PWE a necessity in the education of pre-registration healthcare physiotherapists to promote the development of optimal clinical decision making skills in the delivery of safe, effective, and efficient person-centred care.Purpose: This article reports on the development of a series of facilitated workshops within two pre-registration physiotherapy programmes framed by an adapted participatory learning model, underpinned by the concepts of complexity science, in an attempt gain some understanding of the facilitation of learning that is person-centred and collaborative in nature.Approach: Connections between individuals, environments, experiences are non-linear and uncertain. Within the context of person-centred physiotherapy the development of PWE involvement within the curriculum for physiotherapy has involved collaborations in identifying PWE, workshop design, student engagement, workshop delivery, evaluation, dissemination and networks. To facilitate learning there is a need to stimulate pertubance within a system, a system believed to be best represented through a Participatory Learning Model (Jones et al, 2009) based on a collaborative approach that provides a theoretical framework in the development of the PWE workshops, presenting a process that is cyclical and continuous in nature.Evaluation: Evaluation is pluralistic in nature. Feedback is sought from students, PWE and the workshop facilitators, seeking to gain insights of meaning and understanding for all participants. Whilst appreciating the impossibility of an objective understanding, there is a distinct possibility of developing understanding through personal involvement and acknowledging the implications of that involvement, of participation.Outcomes: Key themes associated with emergent learning:● the importance of building trust and being genuine in physiotherapy practice● the value of physiotherapy - physiotherapy does work and is valued!● the limitations of health service provision. This was quite a surprise to a number of students in terms of the bureaucratic 'maize' that some people had to negotiate to access services and the level of isolation experienced at times● the coherence between organisational systems and the lives of individuals, when 'things' did work well.Conclusions: The participatory learning model offers a structure to organise a learning process in a manner that is not only conceptually appealing but also of practical use. The model would seem to have the potential for transfer to broader areas of professional education. In embracing participation and complexity 'don't be afraid to start', and 'learn from doing' are key messages of encouragement. However, it is important to think about any training needs across organisations and individuals, to find and nurture relationships, and to be creative and also have clarity of purpose.Impact and Implications: Creating learning opportunities that are meaningful for all participants and gain insights of the lived experience of physiotherapy practice.